The county council elections are over, but the fun has barely begun. The UK is jumping out of the frying-pan of local politics, into the fire of a General Election and, already, our candidates in Cambridge are getting all hot under the collar over the big issues for our city.

At 8pm today, candidates hoping to be the next Member of Parliament for Cambridge will meet at the Junction in Cambridge to discuss the role of arts and culture in our city.

The candidates will consider questions including: How do arts and culture contribute to our quality of life and local economy? What challenges do we face in cultural education? How will Brexit impact on the creative and cultural industries? And how can our creative industries get involved in local debates such as positioning Cambridge as a smart city?

Can't get there? Don't fret, we've got you! Through the magic of live-blog, the Cambridge News will be bringing back all the nuggets of journalistic gold from the proceedings and presenting them here, as though this feed was a smorgasbord of political treats, for your delectation.

Weird medley

We’re done here. The discussions are at an end. A weird medley of Pink Floyd and, curiously, Europe’s Final Countdown fills the auditorium. The candidates look at each other and mouth, “pub?” before shuffling off. Thanks for sticking with us readers. There will be more hustings, I’m sure.

21:39

Me.How do we solve a problem like me?

Journalism is up for discussion.

Q: In era of fake news, what, if anything, can politicians do to keep news free and fair?

John Hayward wants users, not just producers to play their part. Fake news is the problem and people are having a greater role in tackling it. people lie, but if we can find ways to flag it.

Dr Huppert worries a handful of papers is owned by small group of billionaires. Cambridge news itself is owned by Trinity Mirror. The problem is how do you get things for free. How do we pay for good, independent journalism.

Stuart Tuckwood says it would be foolish to think the solution will be short term. We need to be able to scrutinse government. Role of local papers is increasingly under threat. He’d like to see more media plurality. Not good when the news agenda is set by small number of wealthy individuals.

Daniel Zeichner says Leveson needs to be implemented to restore trust. Says local news is more trusted. Applauds Cambridge News (of course). Says technological revolution of the internet is in the early days. people will understand the value of good journalism.

Let me know if you sort it out guys.

21:28

Houses too pricey

This guy’s about to graduate from Cambridge School of Art. He’d love to stay. it’s great for creativity, but it’s too expensive.

Daniel Zeichner says he’s delighted that the city council has got money from govt for new homes. BUT he’s like to crack down on private rental sector. Rent going up every 6 months on renewal is pushing up rates.

Stuart Tuckwood says he has the same problem. He works at Addenbrooke’s and housing is very expensive. Says huge proportion of housing in city is sold off, almost immediately, to foreign investors. greens would end right to buy.

21:25

No such bonfire

No “bonfire of the regulations” after Brexit says john Hayward.

21:24

Copyright law.

Julian Huppert says we can push for open access. Interesting model. Says copyright law often works in favour of big companies not artists.

21:23

Would candidates support loosening of copyright laws?

Daniel Zeichner says it’s a complex Q.

“Thank you” says guy who asked it.

Artists need to eat, says Zeichner. People have got to make a living.

21:21

O captain! My captain!

Dr Hayward “has something of a reputation” as the Robin Williams figure from Dead Poets Society.

Audience member standing on a chair refuses to reference “O captain, my captain!”

21:20

Speed dating

Stuart Tuckwood on the “speed dating” model for political hustings. “Much more illuminating” than previous models.

21:18

No bonfire of the regulations

Stuart Tuckwood - many big corporations, even if they voted to leave the EU, benefited from the EU regulations. Says he’s horrified by the idea of a “bonfire of the regulations”. They are there to protect people.

21:14

Chaos

Dr John Hayward says Huppert would back up Corbyn’s “coalition of chaos”. Dr Huppert visibly slumped in what looked like exasperation.

21:10

Cross party work on the cards?

Julian Huppert hits out at tribalism. Says he’d love to do some cross-party work

21:08KEY EVENT

We can work it out, yeah?

This guy’s a teacher. And they’re having to announce redundancies. Says candidates are singing from the same hymn sheet. Why won’t they go back and work together.

Stuart Tuckwood agrees. Says they SHOULD be working together to unseat the “nasty Tories”.

21:07

Mics a'roving

here they come

21:06

Music venues in danger?

Julian Huppert worries about the small music venues that let people perform are closing. Audience member calls out that many live music venues are in pubs - and there has been no support for them.

21:04

Getting silly

Daniel Zeichner drums home point that some people don’t have access to arts. This must change.

John Hayward would like to see more investment in apprentice schemes. Wants a “strong and stable” economy

21:01

Hunger in schools still an issue

Stuart Tuckwood says if children are arriving at school, but they are hungry, this needs to be addressed as well

20:59

Strike three!

Another outing for “strong and stable”

Dr Hayward reckons Theresa May is the best bet for... you guessed it.

20:57

Thatcher gets a namecheck

Dr John Hayward claims inequality is the lowest it has been since Thatcher. Audience unsure.

20:57

££££££££££££££££££

Daniel Zeichner -

There’s money in this country. It should be in our schools.

20:55KEY EVENT

No money for art in a rich city like ours?

Stuart Tuckwood says teachers work immensely hard, all night marking papers. To expect them to be creative and inspire children is asking a lot. Says teachers should be given the resources they need.

Daniel Zeichner agrees. He sees fantastic stuff when visiting schools. Always told schools do lots of art and music, but they still don’t have enough money. Says it’s sad. Schools want to do music, but the resources are not there. In a rich city, that is absurd.

20:53

Problems ...

20:52

Budget crunch

Creativity important in schools. Not just pre-set lessons. Dr Huppert says sometimes schools are given the wrong agendas. Says there should be some levers to incentivise the arts.

Schools in Cambridgeshire are still very badly funded. Schools here that do want to do more of this are facing a tight budget crunch.

20:48

We need structural change.

Daniel Zeichner worried about a new group of “aristocratic white men” dominating TV screens. Says we have a hugely unequal system in our country. We need structural change, he says.

20:47

School

Stuart Tuckwood - narrow focus on curriculum at the expense of practical topics is damaging. People should feel culture is for them from a young age.

Unpaid internships still problematic

Unpaid internships are a problem. Too many people can’t access careers if they have to work for free for more than four weeks.

20:44

Risky

Dr Huppert not sure move towards equality in society is down to government policy. Family wealth remains a problem, he says. So much training is in central London. Actors either need wealthy parents or need to be able to afford to live in London.

20:41

I feel your pain Simon

Simon, operating the lights, has trouble affording to live in Cambridge. Issue of affordability is a big one.

20:40KEY EVENT

We don't want to be like London

Stuart Tuckwood - Looking at when we will HAVE to be zero carbon - what kind of city do we want to be. We don’t want to be like London, where people can’t afford to buy houses and live locally. We must retain a sense of community.

20:39

Hiding out light under a bushel

Dr Huppert says using data to help people interact with their environment is exciting. Says Cambridge can lead the way in using data to make improvements to people’s lives.

Says Cambridge can be “hugely arrogant” in not telling people how good it is. Says we are not good about letting others know about what we have

20:37

Pub?

Julian Huppert

What is it that binds communities together? It can be a pub or a good arts things. There are parts of Cambridge, new builds, where there is just nothing. It’s not right. Arts and cultural activities have a huge role.